Internal Threat

The story opens on MARK COOPER, an angry loner recently released from drug rehab, watching an online video of himself being held in a headlock by TREY WAGNER, a benchwarming jock whose mother is PRINCIPAL WAGNER. Mark’s rule-following best friend COREY BATES tries to intervene, but Trey’s buddies hold him back. Too humiliated to return to school, Mark vows revenge on Trey. At school, Corey awkwardly pursues MARIANNA MORALES, the custodian’s daughter whose college dreams have been put on hold due to her family’s status. Mark, bitter that the “pussy boy” video has gone viral, decides to get revenge on Trey. He buys an AR-15 from an online dealer, deceives Corey about purchasing real bullets (not blanks), confronts Trey, and accidentally kills Trey's dog. Angry at Mark’s deception, Corey cuts ties with him, and warns Trey’s mother, Principal Wagner, about Mark's AR purchase. Inconsolable and livid about the death of his beloved dog, Trey surprises Mark the next morning and beats him unconscious. The beating sends Mark over the edge. At the high school, Marianna sees a disguised Mark with his AR-15 just before he shoots and kills Trey and a teacher. When Corey hears shots inside the school, he rushes to stop Mark and gets a bullet in the stomach for it. Accidentally shooting Corey takes Mark out of revenge mode and into survival mode. He puts the AR in Corey’s hands, melts into the post-shooting chaos at the school, and gets away from the scene when he’s placed in an ambulance with the critically-wounded Corey. At the hospital, DETECTIVE RAMIREZ interrogates Corey, thinking he did the killings. Corey identifies Mark as the shooter. Marianna, there with her injured brother, sees Mark in the waiting area and tells Detective Ramirez. When Mark steals Detective Ramirez’s handgun in the waiting area, Corey and Marianna distract Mark long enough for the Detective to restrain and arrest Mark. In the epilogue, Marianna’s family gains documented status and Mark’s imprisoned for life.